Not Your Average Cardassian. In Fact, Not A Cardassian At All... (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Apr 26th, 2023 @ 3:47am by Lieutenant Chrirhc Chihc & Lieutenant Talia Johnson

886 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Descent
Location: Counselor's office

Chrirhc straightened out his uniform as he made his way towards the counselor's office. He was surprised that a ship of this nature had a counselor on board, but he was nonetheless glad that one had been assigned to the Tokyo. He had been seeing one on his previous assignment for his affliction that was now entering its fifth year, and was a bit concerned given the role his new assignment had that there wouldn't be another counselor available for him to see. But his concerns had now largely been put to rest.

The casual observer would be forgiven if they mistook Chrirhc for a Cardassian, for his species shared many biological similarities with Cardassians. In fact, at one point in time, Chrirhc's species had been Cardassians. However, for almost 600 years, Chrirhc's species, the Hebitians had lived separate lives from those of their Cardassian cousins, managing to remain neutral until the Cardassian border wars broke out in the 2340s, at which time the Hebitians decided to pursue Federation membership. A benefit they had enjoyed for almost 50 years and through two wars. However, recent Cardassian actions and lack of a firm Federation reaction meant that there had been deep frustrations among his people aimed at the Federation. And Chrirhc would be one to know, as his homeworld was at the center of the whole mess.

Chrirhc reached the door of the counselor's office and rang the chime, waiting to be let in.

While Thomas was busy working, and the rest of the crew were on Shoreleave, Talia had decided to set out her office how she wanted it, she hadn’t expected to hear the door-chime ring. Looking curiously towards the door she called “Come in.”

Chrirhc stepped through the doors and noticed that Talia appeared to have been working.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." He said. "I was figuring I'd stop by and introduce myself, if you have a moment."

Talia smiled warmly. “I was just organising the office to how I want it, please feel free to take a seat. I’m Talia Jans... Johnson” She grinned at her faux pas, she was a married woman now. “Feel free to call me Talia.”

"Chrirhc Chihc." Chrirhc responded, prounouncing his name as clearly as he could. "And take your pick on what you'd like to call me: I answer to both my given name and surname."

Talia nodded. “Okay then Chrirhc it is” She just hoped she pronounced it well enough. She took a seat in a comfy chair. “What can I do for you?”

"Oh, that's right, I don't believe I had the previous counselor I was seeing forward you their notes on me." Chrirhc said, settling into a seat. "Well, I'll try to get the basics out of the way and later I'll speak with her to send you her notes."

Chrirhc settled back into the chair before continuing.

"Basically, now is not the best time to be alive as a Hebitian." He began. "A planet in our system, which I should point out has been recognized as Federation territory for almost half a century, is under an illegal occupation by the Cardassians for going on five years now, and the Federation seems more interested in trying to appease the Cardassians instead of upholding its territorial integrity. Though all Hebitians show some degree of displeasure towards the Federation over this, for me it is especially personal, because the planet that the Cardassians are occupying and claiming as their own is the planet I was born and raised on."

Talia nodded as she listened. “I’m sorry to hear that, I can only imagine how hard that must be especially being a Starfleet Officer. It puts you smack bang in the middle of the argument. Do you have family on your home-world?”

"Fortunately, I was able to get my wife and children out of there in the early months of the occupation. The family has since resettle on Hebitia Prime." Chrirhc said. "Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my parents. We lost contact shortly after the occupation authorities deactivated Federation subspace relays. I have no way of knowing for sure if they're still there in hiding, or if they've been sent off to a Cardassian penal colony. I have a greater idea than most about what's happening there, but unfortunately the NDA I'm under prohibits me from sharing what I know."

Talia shook her head. “That’s awful, and they had you sign a Non Disclosure Agreement as well. I’m sorry, I know how I’d be feeling if it was my parents that were out of contact. Isn’t there any way of finding out about them? Diplomatic channels or anything of that sort?”

"Unfortunately, it is necessary for members of Starfleet Intelligence to sign a non-disclosure agreement." Chrirhc said. "It's one of the reasons why I changed my career field to Intelligence, to gain access to additional avenues not available to the average Engineer. Unfortunately, I still can't tell you anything about what I do because orange really isn't my color."

Talia nodded and smiled. “Mine either! We can circumvent that without breaking any rules or regulations. I don’t need details of what you do, I just need to know how you’re coping.”

To be continued...

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